Apple boss Tim Cook has hit back at the FBI over the handling of a court order to help unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino killer Syed Rizwan Farook.

Cook told the media, that his company first learned of the controversial request when it was reported in the news media.

However, a source close to the investigation told the BBC that Cook's claim was "simply not true", and that Apple's legal team was "the first to know".

"I think safety of the public is incredibly important, the protection of people's data is incredibly important. And so the trade-off here is we know that doing this could expose people to incredible vulnerabilities.", Cook has told Foreign Media.

However, a spokeswoman for the FBI said she did not wish to comment on Cook's remarks.